Blank feeding mechanism for folding box machines



Jan. 6, 1953 'r. R. BAKER ETAL 2,624,249

BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM FOR FOLDING BOX MACHINES Filed Dec. 28, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet l 0 1* "0 D Q o o o I a I I 2 '1 ll l5 I: -1 '1 840") f 87 0 82 i C; o I o I 67 Z 86 I 2 I 1 Z L o 87 j o O o a ,7

Fig. 1 uvmvroas M E. W a??? fwalaam QMM' um MM +uv ATTORNEY,

Jan. 6, 1953 'r. R. BAKER ETAL BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM FOR FOLDING BOX MACHINES Filed D90. 28, 1948 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig. 2

]N VEN TOR Mm ATTORNEYS M WM MW.

BLANK FEEDING MECHANISM FOR FOLDING BOX MACHINES Filed Dec. 28, 1948 Jan. 6, 1953 T. R. BAKER ETAL 4 Sheets-Sheet 5 INVENTORS large measure on Patented Jan. 6, 1953 UNITED STATES PAT ENT" o 'e'l i' ca MACHINES Thomas v R. Baker, Sun n yt a le," aiia J.

Bem'i'ss Jas'on. Calif.', 'a partnership Califi, assignors to V This inventionr elates 'to'imp ave nents in'blank f ceding mechanisms for folding" bQX machines "of the type in which a flat, or nearly' flat bla'nkfof foldable'sheet material, w I is iorc ed'throiigjh a foldingdie' by a lunger", to fold the biariki'into holiow' boat-trim. I i

Th n tiq ;p flstrfi. 1 fl t'li applied to machines of I the aforementioned gene q e whi a di ion to qlqin 'i eb e during its passage throughthehd eg'also perform a locking operation OIL-the blank ppiq lg certain ank po s ajsl a ls; an l ta f fiw together; sothat these i .c c b an prt s het aii ma riin bQ J c mgl f me with uti t e eous connecti 'g1mea'n's'siich as" adhesive, staples,

rivets ,'or' the like;

H wever e i tib' 15 not mliinited pp ati n. tQ. ma n r; he e111. 'es'sfe semh ifi lvdi gibo'x 1 adv t e- 3 l ed o es.

A H I P its but b i r 1 applied to die and plungermachines for making between the t e, d e. d pe 1 lanhisc e o t i ht y 9 of. n

thel cks that "theblankjfw jpfib x e, ye ic i n. ra s wh a en the io deriof o i l' t triple the-rate of acorn blefmachi" if nz..up 1 bi0 es .ngrat sfi et ven 20 oxesi iqm; th ejfie r ha extreme accuracy i Y ment ofthevarions" elements of the ma isf" of utmost importancefisince theregisi'no tim I e the blank to settle betweenjaperedgnides at the mouth r the die, nor is there time r rjficeeing the blank in the conventional manner by engag ing'one'orseveral blank'edges to push it into correct position. .7

The accuracy with which the feeding mechanism deposits, blanks Won the folding die; after removing them from a magazine is 'therefore q i e r t qet i a s 9.? great mpo t n e-t ward a the accidental fee ngpftwohl V each other, ,siiicethe clearance? mg die and 'the'plunge'i also selected a's'toperinit ri amnle' ai e i p 2 onlyfmateriai or 9; predetermined'maximu'm thickness'to pass 'therebetween, Accidental simiiltaneoiis feeding of two blanks, therefore, always resnltsin destruction of the blanks and frequently in; maes i e mac ne 'Ifhe present invention providesa feeding mechanismwhich'reiiably feeds blanks, one at a time, andf depfositsj them with great accuracy preciselythepgsition which the blank should assume with respect to the "die without the "necessity" to correct theposition by special means.

a, i proves i d m m idl bla n'a ma nerj inwhich they can be moved at extremely high "speed. The improved device r against the blank surface and I inertia effects; that is the tendency of the blank-to rebound if stopped sud: denly, iactors which critically afiect the accuracy effectively eliminates air resistance of delivery oi the blank. 20 v V v Thevarious'obiects', features, and advantages of th nvention 'will appear more fully from the de description which follows accompanied by drawingsi'showingifor the purpose of illustration a preferred embodiment of the invention. I1 yention'also consists in certain new and n being of the glueless interlocking type s n' fl a position shortly before theblank I'eede icks upa flat blank at the magazine gate;

lfignfe Z is a perspective side view of, the box machine of Figure 1 at an advanced phase 'of its opera ion at the point of removal of a blank from the magazine by'the feeder; v

Eig ire 3 is a perspective end view of the ma e at a further advanced phase of its opera- 7 J at the point of deposit of the blank on the die bythe feeder; and

gure 4 is a diagrammatic and simplified illusoi theb-lank feeding mechanism, showerm ing-the mechanism at several phases'of its opera- Y In th'e following jdescriptionandin the claims,

various details will be identified by specific names the cross head 3 for convenience. The names, however, are intended to be as generic in their application as the art will permit. Corresponding reference characters refer to corresponding parts in the several figures of the drawings. 7

In the drawings accompanying, and forming part of, this specification, certain specific disclosure of the invention is made for the purpose of explanation of broader aspects of the invention, but it is understood that the details may be modified in various respects without departure from the broad principles of the invention and that the invention may be applied to other structures than the ones shown.

The folding box forming machine shown in Figures 1 to 3 produces boxes by folding a blank and interlocking the box corners in a manner to form a rigid self-sustaining box without gluing, stapling, or riveting. Gluelessly interlocked boxes are quite popular because of their low cost, the high rate at which they can be set up and because of the low cost and relatively small size of the machine required for setting them up. The glueless interlock of such boxes generally comprises fiaps on the side or end walls which are partially inserted through cuts or apertures in the end or side walls of the box, respectively. The flaps generally engage the walls in edge-to-edge contact, whereby a strong interlock is produced comparable in strengh to a glued connection.

Because of the extensive use of gluelessly interlocked boxes a detailed description of a representative blank and box may be dispensed with. It

may be stated, however, that the illustrated machine is particularly equipped to set up and lock boxes of the type disclosed in the patent to Meller No. 2,580,181 (application Serial No. 789,839 of December 4, 1947) The machine comprises a work is to which a base ll E2. A drive shaft l3 carrying a chain gear 14' is mounted in bearings l5 and IS. The drive shaft is driven through a chain I! from a motor or other suitable source of power (not shown) and carries a crank #8. A connecting rod l9 connects the crank 52 with a cross head vertically movable on posts 2i and 22 of the base I I.

The cross head 20 has a plunger 23 attached to it, movable through the forming and folding aperture 2-6 of a die 25, the axis of the die and plunger being substantially vertical. The plunger 23 has a head portion 25 secured to the cross head by bolts 29. The bolts 29 extend through holes in 25 with close tolerances so that the plunger assumes a definite position with respect to the cross head when being secured thereto by the bolts. The bottom surface 32 of the plunger 23 is approximately equal in size to the bottom panel of the box to be formed. The bottom surface of the plunger engages a blank placed over the die aperture and forces it through the die while the inner side walls of the die fold the wall panels of the blank towards the outer wall surface 3" of the plunger. The plunger is equipped with proiectable and retractable elements 35 on the lower ends of levers 35 pivoted in the plunger at 3?. The levers S5 carry rollers 38 which cause the levers to swing inwardly when the rollers 38 strike projecting cam surfaces in the die (not shown). This causes the elements 36 to be pulled inwardly to perform a certain looking operation on the blank. A detailed description of these box assembly operations is not required for an understanding of the particular improvements provided by this invention. Howsupporting frame is secured by bolts ever, a detailed explanation may be found in the patent to Pagendarm No. 2,580,189 (application Serial No. 739,749 of April 7, 1947).

The folding die 25 proper fits with close tolerance on bolts 43 in the base. The bolts serve as dowels causing the die to assume a definite position with respect to the base H and also permit the die to be securely fastened to the base by nuts ll. The die thus assumes adjusted position in the machine in proper relation with respect to the path of the plunger. The described mounting causes the central axis of the plunger to coincide with the center axis of the die, the latter being the imaginary vertical line extending throu h the center of the die aperture.

The base II has a rigid gate supporting plate 42 attached to it which near its upper end carries two dowel pins 43 and a central tapped aperture into which a bolt 44 fits. A magazine gate 45 is attached to the supporting plate 42. Vertical spaced inner arms 49 of the gate carry dowel pins 50 at their upper ends over which blank supporting rods 5| fit. The rods, in turn, fit into cutout or recessed portions of a stack 52 of blanks B and align the blanks with respect to the magazine gate 45. The far ends of the rods 5! are supported in a similar manner as the front ends and support the magazine in a substantially horizontal direction. The magazine axis intersects the vertical plunger axis and lies in substantially the same vertical plane as the latter.

Vertical outer arms 59 of the magazine gate carry blank retaining plates 68. The blank retaining plates are secured to the arms 59 by bolts 6| and are spaced from each other slightly less than the width of the blanks B. Thus the retaining plates 60 prevent the blanks in the magazine from falling out under the pressure of a feeder arm 62 urging the blanks towards the gate. The feeder arm 62 is supported by a carriage 63 which runs on a prismatic track 64 and bears against the rearmost blank to feed the entire stack of blanks towards the magazine gate.

The spacing of the retaining plates 60 permits removal of the frontmost blank by a feeder which grasps the blank intermediate the retaining plates and pulls it away from the stack of blanks in the magazine. During the removal the frontmost blank flexes slightly and snaps with its side edges past the edges of the retaining plates 66.

The blank feeding mechanism comprises a feeder arm 65 carrying a pair of suction cups 66. The feeders arm 65 is hollow and serves as a suction duct to apply at proper intervals a partial vacuum to the suction cups. The feeder arm has a flexible duct 61 attached to its end at 68. The arm is rigidly mounted on a bracket 69 having an elongated guide-way l0 engaging the cylindrical outer surface of a ball bearing ll. The ball bearing H is mounted on a stud 12 on a supporting plate post 13 which, similar to the gate supporting plate 42, is rigidly and permanently attached to the base I I.

The bracket 69 of the feeder arm 65 is pivotally connected to one arm'of a bell crank lever 14 at 75. The bell crank lever 74 is pivotally mounted on the supporting plate 73 at 76. Its pivotal axis is substantially normal to the vertical plane in which the plunger and magazine'axes lie. The bell crank lever has two arms, the on'e'arm 1! being represented by the distance betweenthe pivotal axes l5 and 76, the other arm 18 being represented by the distance between the pivotal axis 'IG and the axis of a pin 79 at which one end of a-connecting rod Bil is attache'd tothe-bell crank lever.

The other end of the connecting "rod sil is' pivotally-connect'edto a rocking lever'8l-at 82'.-- The rocking lever BI is pivoted in the frameworklit of the machine about an axis 83 and-carries a cam follower M urged against the periphery of a-cam 85 on the drive shaft i3. The rocking lever BI is under the action of helical compressed springs 28 bearing with its one end: against the rocking lever proper" andwith' the other end against a'bracket'BT secured tothe framework l ii The camt'alis fast on thedr-ive shaft l3 and oscillates the rocking lever 8 I about its" axis 83'. The lever 8! in turn causes-the bell crank lever 74 to-oscillate about its pivot 1 6" to move the feeder" arm 65 in a manner presently to be described."

Beginning with the position of the elements of-the machine, as shown in Figural, 'a-blank B rests on the folding die 25, andthe plunger 23 is on itsdownward stroke driven by the crank It movingin a clockwise sense. The rocking lever 8I is nearing itslowermost position asthe cam follower 84climbs onto portions of thecam' of progressively increasing radius. The feeder arm 65 is infrontof the magazine gate andthesuction cups 66 are only a short distance'from' the rrontmostblank, moving towards the blank in order'to gripit. As the follower 8450f the rocking; arm 81 continues to climb with respect to the cam; the rocking. lever is depressed further causing the bell crank lever liito' turn' counterclockwisely. The bell crank lever arm 11" is nearly vertical. Its pivotal motion about the lver axis'it'therefore causes the feeder'arm to make a translatorymotion substantially horizontal towards the magazine gate. The feeder arm is guidedzin this'motion by the guideway 1c which slides relatively to the outer surface of the ball bearing ll (see Figures 2 and 4) until the suction cupsimakercontact' with the frontmost blankrof the stack 52.

It will'be observed that the approach of the feeder mechanism is relatively slow due to the very gradual changein'curvature-of the cam 85 at thespoint of contact with the follower 84. In distinction, 1 the movement of the" plunger"'23 is relatively rapid as the plunger approa'che'szthe die 25."

Referring now toFigure 2 showing the machine at a phase of "operation advanced approximatelyil20 degrees in terms of crank angle, it willibe iseenthatthe plunger has forced the blank previously resting on the die entirely through the die, performing the folding operation on the blank, and has begun to return towards its upper dead center position.

The cam follower 84 has just moved over the highest portion of the cam at which point the suction cups 66 make contact with the frontmost blank. As the cam follower then moves onto cam portions of progressively shorter radius, the rocking lever 8| moves upwardly under the action of the spring 86 and the bell crank lever 14 turns in a clockwise sense thereby moving the suction cups to the right. This motion, again, is rather slow and causes the frontmost blank to flex and separate from the next blank and to snap past the edges of the retaining plates 60. Figure 2 illustrates the instant at which the right side edge of the blank has cleared the retaining plate, whereas the upper portion of the left side edge of the blank is still in engagement with the respective retaining plate. The removal of the blank from the ma -azine thus takes place a during a pred'onii nantly translatorymotionofthe feeder;

As th'e belllcrank -lever14"continues to turn about -it's axis 16 the translatory component of motion of the feeder arm 6 5 gradually decreases while a rotary component" of motiorr increases; As a result the suction cups with the blank attached' to them swing towards the die a's the feederpivots relatively to' thebell' crank" lever about the pi votal axis" 16. Duri-hg' the latter phase of motion' the rocking lever B l approaches its uppermost position as the cam follow-ee gradually moves onto the portion ofthe cam havin'g' -the shortest radial distance from the" drive shaft a'Xi'sL it Wil1-be noted that the movement of the blank irom the 'ma azine to the die' is most advant'ageous from the-standpoint of air resistance I since during its fastswin'gin'g movement towards theldiethe blank exposes substantially only an edge to theai-r but'not its flat surface.

During the swinging motion of the blank towards the die the crank 18' whlch op'e'ratesthe plunger 23 moves towards its'upper deadce'nter-po'si'tion causing the plurigerto clear-the'die so that the feederiarm can deposit the blank-on the I up er die surface underneath the plunger;

Figure -3 shows the machine with the crank 18 at the' upper" dead center position. At this phase thefeeder arm 65 has reached a vertical position ready to: deposit theblank on the die. The point of release is controlled by a valve-88 m the duct 61 which at" the propermornent shuts off the duct from the vacuumline 69 (Figure 3)- andvents it to the atmosphere. The blank now drops onto the-receiving surface of thedie.

During the approach of' the blank the lever arm 11 is in sub'stantiallyhorizontal position and the guide way I0 is substantially vertical. As a result the motion of the blank is apredominantly translatory-motion during which the blank moves slowly due-to' the very gradual change in curvature of the cam 85. At the moment of deposit of the blank the follower 84 passes the" cam portion of shortest radius.

Removal 'of the "blank from the suction cups is assisted by two-stripperstll' of flat'sp'ring' bronze; or'spririg m'ounted on posts 9! of the 'diel- Dur-' ing the last portion of-the feedin'g movement -the blank moves p'ast the lowerends-of the strippers 90 whichthereafter flex slightly inwardly to en'- gage 'the" upper 1 surface of the blank and' ret'aiii it on the Edie.v The strippers thus 'pr'event 'the blank from being disturbed as the suctioncup's return empty to the magazine.

The principal phases of compound motion of the feeder arm are diagrammatically shown in Figure 4. In the position shown in full lines the feeder arm is fully extended and the suction cups 66 make contact with the frontmost blank of the stack 52. During the phase of predominantly rotative motion shown in dotted lines the suction cups have the shortest distance from the pivotal point ll relatively to which the guideway 10 of the feeder slides. The other extreme position at which the feeder deposits the blanks on the die is shown in dash-dot lines. In this position the feeder arm is again fully extended.

The invention thus provides an improved feeding mechanism which slidably feeds blanks, one at a time, at an extremely rapid rate and deposits them accurately in the position in which the blanks are to be grasped by the blank folding mechanism. The blanks are so guided as to reduce the air resistance to a minimum during the trans ort of the blank from the magazine to the die. However, air resistance is taken advantage of as the blank is being deposited at the die to decelerate the blank to prevent rebound. The rapidity with which the feeding mechanism is capable of operating makes it particularly suited for high speed glueless box forming and interlocking machines. However, the accuracy with which the device operates makes it a desirable feeding unit for slower machines employing adhesives where accuracy of blank delivery is of importance.

What is claimed is:

1. A feeding mechanism for removing single blanks of foldable sheet material from a withdrawal position and plane, for example from the end of a stack of blanks, and moving the withdrawn blank to, and deposit it in, a deposit position and plane, for example on a folding die through which a plunger is movable, said deposit position and plane lying at an angle with respect to the withdrawal plane, the feeding mechanism comprising, a support; a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted on said support; a bearing on said support, said bearing having a pivotal axis spaced from, and parallel with, the pivotal axis of the bell-crank lever; a double-armed gripper arm pivotally mounted to one arm of said bell-crank lever, one arm of the gripper arm having rotative and slidable engagement with said bearing; a suction gripper mounted on the other arm of said gripper arm; and means engaging the other arm of said bell-crank lever for oscillating the bell crank lever about its axis.

2. A feeding mechanism for removing single blanks of foldable sheet material from a Withdrawal position and plane for example from the end of a stack of blanks, and moving the withdrawn blank to, and deposit it in, a deposit position and plane, for example on a folding die through which a plunger is movable, said deposit position and plane lying at an angle with respect to the withdrawal plane, the feeding mechanism comprising, a mounting plate substantially normal to said withdrawal plane and said deposit plane; a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted on said plate; a combination pivot and slide bearing mounted on said plate, its axis being spaced from, and parallel to the pivotal axis of said bellcrank lever; a double-armed gripper arm pivotally mounted to one arm of said bell-crank lever,

one arm of the gripper arm having rotative and slidable engagement with said bearing; a suction gripper mounted on the other arm of said gripper normal axes of said removal plane and said deposit plane said normal axes extending through said pivotal axis.

mal to said withdrawal plane and said deposit plane; a bell-crank lever pivotally mounted on said plate; a combination pivot and slide bear- THOMAS R. BAKER. EDWARD J. PAGENDARM. REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record inthe file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 519,671 Gay May 8, 1894 1,530,985 Crissman et al. Mar. 24, 1925 1,553,738 Arey Sept. 15, 1925 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date France Sept. 26, 1925 

